


A Painful Beginning

by TheMonsterIAm



Series: Arkham Knight File X098: Deliah Eversson a.k.a. Evelin Aho Dess [1]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games), Batman: Arkham - All Media Types
Genre: Child Death, Child Murder, Child Soldiers, F/M, Jason Todd Is Arkham Knight, Jason Todd is Alive, Jason Todd is Red Hood, Monarchy, Not historically correct, Spoilers, Venezuela
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-16
Updated: 2020-02-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 06:51:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20652992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheMonsterIAm/pseuds/TheMonsterIAm
Summary: Deliah's first meeting with the Arkham Knight wasn't exactly the most special of moments, but it was a new eye-opener to the rest of her very existence. She was no longer to be a soldier without a purpose.





	1. File XX01

**Author's Note:**

> This is a build-up of an Arkham Knight character I've made maybe a year or so ago, but never really gave her a straight backstory or a form of development. I must warn you that her backstory is extremely dark, if you haven't seen the tags already. I decided to do this route of a backstory because it's a hard topic to talk about, let alone even mention upon. I decided to do some form of research on child soldiers before I went deep into her backstory.
> 
> I used to have another backstory of her's that wasn't as dark as this, but I decided her old backstory could be the cover-up when she comes to Gotham City with the Arkham Milita.

It was a project founded by the Venezula government itself when Evelin was little. The politics always has been a mess there, and morality never existed when it came to greed for power, whoever it may be in charge. This time around, however, Evelin was born under a monarchy, and around the time, the government would rip children away from their mothers to become soldiers for a ruthless war against people twice their age or more.

Evelin wasn’t special in the slightest as they force her to train among many other children, who either died during said training without an empathetic thought or became too exhausted or disabled by said tests to continue. It continued as Evelin grew up with others lucky (or unlucky) enough to get this far with her. They didn’t care that they were throwing female children in the mix either. War was coming, whether it be from the people who live under the cruel government, or from a neighboring country. Nobody knew, and nobody knew either that said war would come from some militia formed by some shady men that originated from the country itself and a commander with an equally shady background.

Evelin was prepared as it is growing up to learn how to shoot a weapon better and faster than some noble kid’s learning the Spanish alphabet. That’s right, the rich were able to make the government look the other way with a few coins. Evelin’s mother wasn’t so fortunate to blessed with a fortune from some ill-reasoned god, whoever her mother really be. She remembered her mother having her same hair color, long strings, and blue-no green, eyes. Evelin can’t remember. She doesn’t think if she saw her mother on the streets then, she would recognize her.

It was one by one as she grew up that she watched other children collapse in exhaustion after vigorous exercise for hours on end or die from some horrid training session. She remembered watching one child, the same age of her, get shot by a sniper round at the age of ten, straight through the skull. The child was too scared to move out of the way of the sound training they were doing at the time. Evelin had nightmares for weeks since the incident.

For years being in the said project, Evelin was one of the few last to come out of the project alive. But just like that, when she turned eighteen, she was thrown in the royal palace of some corrupted king. Her new job? To sit and tend to the princess who was so blind to the world around her that she never understood why her new female guard who dressed just as royally as her had a cold expression everywhere she went.

Evelin remembered one of their conversations, one of them going to the symbolic blindness of the princess that Evelin had to dress up closely like to confuse any possible assassins looking for her ever-so wanted head…

_“Eve!” The princess spoke, giggling and hidden among her bedroom’s curtains, an apparent form of some playful game. Evelin sat and watch the princess’ silly gestures with her trademark expression of its usual ice-y appearance. “You are not allowed to stand close to windows, milady.” Was all Evelin said to the playful woman, someone that held familiar eyes that reminded Evelin of her lost mother._

_The princess pulled out from the curtain and made a pouty expression. “You’re no fun! I can’t wait for coronation this week. The people are going to love me!” After being with the princess for so long, it became known to Evelin that even the princess was trapped in some way, even when she was at the top of the pyramid. It appears as Evelin is crushed underneath the pyramid, the princess couldn’t jump off the pyramid without the threat of death from such a height._

_Evelin knew of the outside world more than even the princess. The people that the princess believe will love her will only turn to violence to kill one of their corrupted rulers. Evelin, however, wouldn’t admit such a truth, not without the genuine lack of empathy she holds for the family. She wished for the government to fall, hoping that when it does, she can rest finally. Whether it would be from death itself, or understanding a new form of freedom for herself, if there was any to gain._

_“Eve, once I finally become ruler, we can both rule and care for the people!” For such a grown woman, she acts much like a child, a child that Evelin herself never had the chance to experience life as. “I am simply a guard, milady.” Evelin spoke. Evelin wanted nothing to do with the royal life any longer than she have to. “But Eve! Think of all the things we can do together! I don’t want to get married to some lousy rich guy and be his fancy piece! I wanna run around the world, see the United States I keep hearing about! I can actually be treated like an equal, both of us even!”_

_The American Dream, Evelin have heard a bit about the country, but it was a life that felt impossible to grasp under the weight of the pyramid above her, her entrapment that she was destined to die under. “You have a kingdom to rule, milady. The people will need you here more than anywhere else.” The princess began being mad, “I saw the contract, Eve! You’re under oath of my father, not me! When…when he passes away, I’ll be in charge, and I’m going to rip that contract!”_

_Evelin kept her cold look, “And then what will become of me?” She questioned. The princess paused in her proposed freedom. “Why…you’ll be free, and we can rule things our way! We don’t even have to deal with no king. We can both be queens that need no king.” Evelin closed her eyes for a moment, picturing everything that she needed to quickly. Evelin…had a feeling that the princess wasn’t interested in men to begin with. She spent a few years (by force) with Evelin, doing things that women in rich settings normally do. Now here they were, in their twenties and ‘getting ready to rule the world.’_

_Evelin began to question if the princess’ father would have her head for such thoughts on women. Evelin knew of his cruelty, having to bow down whenever he would enter a room or when she requests to speak with him for updates on how his ‘little queen’ is doing. Evelin began to suspect the reason he even took her in was because it would be a surprise if a woman servant stabs a male assassin in the neck before he gets his hands onto the princess. Evelin could even see the logic in it, being dressed up like she’s simply a well-off maid meant to follow around to do the princess’ bidding. Evelin was only half of that charm._

_“Milady, the people wouldn’t like the new queen suddenly attempting a marriage with another woman.” Evelin decided to give the woman some reasoning instead of simply rejecting her. “But…won’t the people be happy? Wouldn’t they want me to be happy?” The princess grabbed Evelin’s hands forcibly. The people don’t want you to be happy, Evelin thought, but kept it to herself. “They don’t want you to break traditions that their people are used to, milady.” Evelin answered. The princess moved down onto her knees, staring up at Evelin._

_“It’s…not fair! How can they not understand that? Things must change, Eve! It’s just a part of life and adaptation! Don’t they know this in school?” Most of the country never even been inside a school, let alone learn anything from it. Only nobles ever went to such places. “Milady, please stand up. It’s not courteous of a royal to bow down to a servant.” “No!” The princess made a shout of ill retention._

_Evelin kept silent in the heavy pause in the pink-laced room filled with jewelry made by dedication and hardwork, something the princess never had to do. “Eve…this…this isn’t what I want! Let the people decide what to do when I am gone with you!” “Milady,” Evelin spoke out. The princess’ breath hitched in anticipation to the woman’s answer. “, what if I don’t wish to leave?” It was silent for a while. A servant speaking of their desires? A jest among a palace that held no laughter in this moment. The princess moved her hands from the dark-skinned ones above her, dropping them down to her lap while her eyes stared down to the swept floor in disbelief. “And even if I wish to go, how would we survive? Who would take us in before we can commence such a journey? We only know the Spanish language where almost everywhere else speaks English. It would be a harsh journey of a peasant.”_

_There, Evelin’s reasonings were given. This will encourage the princess to then change her mind. “Milady, you are to be queen and have been trained to become one. I will be at your side until I am no longer needed.” The princess continued to keep her silence. Evelin gently moved down to her side, laying down in a bowing position. “That is my destiny, after all. Our destiny.”_

_The princess gripped her hands together before biting down onto her lips, making them bleed. “This isn’t what I want! I want to explore! I hate this place! I hate being in this damned palace that holds no bearing! I never even got the chance to step outside to hold and shake the hands of my own people! How can I be a good ruler if I don’t even know what they want?!” Evelin let the princess have her temper tantrum. She always had one, at least a couple a week. Even when the princess threatened to harm those around herself, including Evelin, her servant guard never reacted. Evelin never had; maybe that is why the princess would go into a madden state. Even her ‘best friend’ was useless._

_“What am I to do?! To what will I damn well gain from sitting around and doing nothing?!” Evelin has questioned that herself. The king did just fine with Evelin growing up. She couldn’t see how the princess can’t figure that out herself. Even among the nobles, stupidity still is afresh._

_“Eve, if there is a god, why would he be so cruel to his own earthly creations?”_

_Evelin, also, have wondered that too._

It was the day of the coronation. The princess will soon be crowned queen and her father will retire off to rest for his last days alive. It would be live television, for any Venezuelans able to watch it. The princess will then be taken to her new throne room and given a wake-up call to how life was for those among the poor, if she would care. The former king certainly didn’t. He was too busy eating imported pies from Sweden thanks to the oil company that exist among his bare end. Evelin didn’t expect much. She has been with the princess since she became an adult up to her twenties, she would know that the princess was just in much of a dump as her father.

Evelin had to admit, however, that the princess was interesting to watch, maybe even considered as a friend in some ways. But even through all that…

She never bothered to learn the princess’ own name.

Maybe it’s to keep herself from becoming attached, as she learned not to do as a young soldier. Or maybe it’s because she simply didn’t care.

If Evelin was asked if she knew the princess’ name, she would admit false. She only ever called the princess ‘milady’ and nothing more. She only learns of the princess’ true name when she was caught in an assassination attempt where the king expected her to follow suite of the princess while she gotten prepared for her big judgement day.

“Isn’t it wonderful, Eve? I am finally to be named queen and I will be able to cherish the people father talks to much about!” The princess giggled, swirling around like she was in a fairytale before stopping down in the middle of a hallway, seeing men in red uniforms pulling out from small hallways connection to the large hallway they were in. The princess turned confused as Evelin pulled her back. The men wandering with the two women moved up in front with guns.

The men in red weren’t apart of the palace. How did they get in?

One of the men in red became shooting violently onto the king’s men, making Evelin hurried to pull the princess out of the area. The princess screamed in horror as Evelin hurried to defend her, but before they could rush, Evelin grabbed one of the king men’s guns after he was taken down and rushed from the scene.

“Stay right here, milady.” Evelin spoke to the woman, keeping her hidden away in a small space hidden away by eyes. “Eve, no!” The princess cried out, trying to reach out to the dark woman, who pulled back and loaded the gun in her hands before rushing back to the scene, witnessing the men in red nearly all taken down the king’s men. Only three remained against ten others. “Not good, we need more men!” A man shot down a red before pulling back down. “Send for help, I’ll handle the rest.” Evelin spoke. “You crazy?!” “Grab the princess and rush out!” The man made a sound of defeat before rushing out of shooting range with the princess. The sound of bullets rang through the air, making Evelin take a deep breath.

In part of her training, she was taught not to listen too much to the world around her, and just take down the targets quickly. If she died, she can always be replaced, that what they always told her.

With that, Evelin pulled out and began shooting down most of the men in red, making the hallway stain the same color as their uniforms. “For the Knight!” One of the men in red shout out, pulling out his jacket to reveal his suicide vest before rushing. Evelin reacted faster, immediately shooting the man down in time before he could set the vest off. Before she knew it, she was the last one, and there were more men coming in. Was this it? She dies from an assassination attempt on the princess soon-to-be queen? It wasn’t the worst way to go, Evelin thought. It wasn’t a nice way either.

She shot down more until she ran out of bullets and soon enough, bullets began hitting her. She felt nothing at first from her adrenaline, but when she went down, she began feeling her wounds and the agony from them. She laid her own blood, breathing heavily and gasping for air that was in front of her, yet out of her reach. She began waiting for one of the men to begin putting a bullet in her head, but nothing came.

She gasped more for air and looked around, her eyes snapping to a new appearance that wandered over to her and moved onto one of its knees. He dressed much like a knight, was this the man that the man was willing to die for? Was he to be the end of her life? He would be made a better god than any god in existence if he did. He moved a armored hand down onto her throat, searching for something on the side. _“Still breathing.”_ He spoke in English, at least, that is what Deliah think it is. His voice was metallic to the ear; was the Knight a demon? Sent to await the princess for judgement day?

_“You’re one of the young ones, aren’t you? One of the child soldiers they used to peddle, the bastards. The others around you are twice your age at least.”_ Why was he talking to her? Why not kill her already? The Knight moved his hand away and stood up. “Take her to the infirmary tent. I need one alive for interrogation at least.” Evelin heard a sound of approval as the Knight roamed off somewhere, probably after the princess. Evelin attempted to move to grab his leg, a weak way to stop him. It was all she could do now. The Knight stopped and turned to look down at her. This time, he spoke in Spanish. “No English huh? Why protect those that care nothing for you? My men had enough of their foolishness. It is why they are here. Give me all the information you can, and you will no longer work for nothing. You’ll have a purpose.” A purpose? Evelin always had a purpose since she grew up. She was meant to kill and meant to die. What else is a purpose? Evelin began to realize there was possibly more to this life than what she was given. What if the princess does die? Will the king kill her too? Or will he kill her anyway for failing if she does come out alive?

Evelin decided to take that chance and let go of the Knight’s leg. She panted and laid in her current position, unable to continue forward. One of the men in red moved next to her and gently picked her up bridal style after taking care to make sure she had no more weapons on her. The man that picked her up spoke in English. She didn’t know what he said to her the whole time as the Knight walked forward through the hallway with the rest of his surviving men.

The man carrying her made a small whistle, _“Man, you’re a babe. No wonder he wanted to keep you around. Maybe you’re the princess or whatever.”_ Evelin’s vision went black, and she began to question if it was finally time for her to meet the god of this world, and to give him the middle finger.


	2. File XX02

When Evelin woke up, she didn't expect to awake to healthy food to eat and the freedom to roam among the same men she was murdering in a bloodshed. Well, enough freedom to roam the camp, but not leave it. She was always watched by a '_commander_', whatever that meant in the English they spew. The first thing she saw, well, smell first, was said food. And immediately, she moved off of a bed she was laid upon to eat the meal only royals were allowed only to eat. She couldn't even eat the same thing as the princess she watches. 

Have they ever wondered if she would turn to kill the princess one day? Most likely not.

_"What the hell... have you seen the hallway we were forced to roam into? The whole room was red and covered in guts! All because of her, and the Knight doesn't want us to shackle her in a heavy enforced camp tent?!" "Shush idiot, you don't want him to overhear you." "But god damn, did you see the way she used that damn axe to slaughter the rest of us?" God damn royals even made a flimsy servant a murder machine."_ Evelin couldn't understand any of the stuff she was able to hear in on. Must've been men told to guard her. She didn't care too much as she ate away the food meant for royals and had it shoved down her throat without a care. She remembered the princess sneaking in specific foods to her because she didn't like what was being served that day.

She was almost finished eating when she heard feet, and she immediately looked up out of reaction. She paused her eating and observed whoever it was coming into her space. She had to prepare, they could kill her right now if they wish. She was ready to use the fork given to her to eat with as her defensive weapon until she froze, seeing the Knightly demon coming in with a soldier in red. She paused for a moment before squirming back onto the bed with the fork, hiding herself back and hissing at the men in whatever bad English she knew.

Hopefully, it had what she wanted to say.

_"Bad demon!"_ She had a strong Spanish accent, making her 'demon' sound more 'day-mon' than anything else. _"Evil god! Turnip eater! King killer!"_ The soldier watched the woman in disbelief before looking towards the demon Evelin feared. _"What you want me to say, sir?" "Ask her where the king is held up."_ The soldier turned back to the female and began speaking in her own language.

"Mistress Warrior, where is the king?" Evelin stared the soldier down and made out a hiss, "Traitor of the king! You dare bow your knee to evil gods? You shall be hanged for your demonic blessed soul!" The soldier rubbed his face, _"She holds the king in honor. Going to be tough to get her to say." "Tell her if she wants the princess to live, she needs to cooperate with us." _ "Either you cooperate with us, or we kill princess Sage." Evelin paused in her ranting, dropping the fork down onto the bed, "Where is the princess?!" She cursed out in a fit of anger. "Demon hands shall not misguide the princess no more!" Was this all a test from the king? To ensure her loyalty? She better keep it up.

"The princess is safe, mistress warrior. But you have to tell us where the king is." "The king left castle?" Evelin questioned in disbelief. "King won't leave his daughter behind!" "Yeah, well he did. Took off with his guards somewhere and we want the info from you." "Why should I tell you? You once bowed to the crown and now no more!" "Well, not everyone in Venezuela had a taste for the crown anyway." Evelin frowned, realizing this wasn't a trick any longer. "King leave us...?" She looked down to her hands. Her purpose was no longer a thing now with the king no longer in rule of the castle if he ditched the country by now. Meaning...she didn't have to obey him anymore, nor the princess.

But the princess was her only means of survival and existence now.

"King left us to the demons. He shall be hung for this." Evelin moved up onto her knees on the bed, taking on her royally trained kneel in her ruined dress, areas of her wounds covered with bandage wraps and the bullets taken out. How long was she out? "The king may have left for his cottage down in the mountains. It is a last resort for when civilians finally upturn the kingdom. He planned it to be his retirement home after the princess-now queen's, coronation." The soldier turned back to the Knight and spoke to him in English on the location of the king. "Is it possible for me to bold out a request as the servant of the king?" The soldier asked the Knight first before answering, "What is your request?" "When you kill the king, please bring his head back to the court. His treason against his country would've been death as it is. Having a trophy of that for the people will do us all justice." "We'll see to that at least."

"But...as for other things," Evelin looked to the soldier in confusion, "Do you plan on killing me now with my use no longer valid?" "No, in fact, we have a proposal to make, from the Knight himself." The soldier made a nervous, deep breath. "He requested that you work under him, under us. Your skills as a soldier should be meant to stay in use at least." Evelin thought about it carefully. She would be a soldier among men who she can't even speak the same language of. Were they really the people of the king turn against him? Evelin's eyes slowly blinked and she looked up to the Knight, "He can ask for himself then, can he?" The soldier flinched and twisted his head to the Knight. The visor on his helmet did absolutely nothing in conveying any emotion for this outspeak on him. The soldier was ready to speak in English to his commander until he was stopped with a hand.

"Are you interested?" The Knight questioned, "What do I gain out of it? What of the princess?" "The princess will be let go, and you'll be given coin and food for your services as long as you're with me." "Coin won't matter when the kingdom falls. I want refugee somewhere." "And where is it that you wish to go?"

"The United States. That 'American Dream' place."


	3. File XX03

Evelin Aho Dess no longer exists. Instead Deliah Eversson exists now. She sat among Venezulan men who would laugh and cackled during their meal breaks, and she would still sat among the same men as they go about their work. Deliah was a new woman in title. It was what the Knight proposed of her to make for security reasons. She liked the new name given to her, even if it is just her name scrambled into a new one. It was a new name, nonetheless.

They call her 'Red Storm' among the men since her bloodshed with them in the castle's halls. She painted the walls red. According to the men that spoke in clear Spanish, she threw axes at the lot of them. Deliah remembers no such thing. Was she really out of it during her rageful murder of the castle intruders? She apparently lost a lot of blood that day. But here she was, now among the intruders and behaving almost like them. They all grew up among the poor slums of the country. Them seeing a royal, especially a beautiful royal servant, was a eye-opener.

Deliah never thought of her own beauty, as her attention was given to it. After many thoughts and memories of the day she was picked up from being a child soldier, she realized that the only reason the king even took her in was possibly her beauty. She began thinking of the times when she had to deal with the king, when he would put his hands on her and be ever so awfully kind and disgusting. Deliah almost cut his hands off everytime. The queen was no longer alive at the time, bless her soul. She was the only thing good besides the princess that came out of that castle. She died from a miscarriage, bleeding out in her sleep one night away from her awful husband's bed.

Since the queen's death, the castle really did go downhill. People actually even _liked_ the queen, believing her to be fit for a goddess instead. She treated even Deliah like her own daughter. So when the story of her dying from a miscarriage came, Deliah didn't believe it whatsoever.

The queen haven't been in bed with her husband for years.

The queen was murdered, Deliah made the conclusion on her own good time. And whether or not Deliah was marching to her killer's cottage, she didn't know. She just knew that his head was returning back to the people who deserve it most to see, to know they are now free from his disgusting oppression.

"Hey, mistress." One man spoke in Spanish to Deliah during their usual run and lunch break. She haven't seen the Knight since her joining, so hearing about him now made her almost queasy. "The Knight wants you to learn English so you're not slacking about. Some of these guys talk some nasty shit about you." "Is it because I'm a woman?" "Nah, because you lived among the people that made their lives shit. But they're starting to get easy with you, believe it or not." "How?" "Eh, instead of being nasty about where you once dwell, they're...taking very kindly to your woman parts." Deliah stared at the man for a long period of time. "Who is the ringleader?" She questioned the man. "Ah, the one that always roaming around with a blue scarf on him; says his mother made it for him before she died."

Deliah took note of this for later. "Please, teach me English whenever you can."

* * *

A month later, and Deliah already had a good grip on English, speaking very well and understanding it well with the accents she hears daily. But she played dumb during that whole time, just so she could catch a specific man. It was the man with the blue scarf. One day, as she walked with a sniper rifle strapped to her back, she noticed the blue scarf man roaming behind her with some of his friends. He spoke in English, not knowing how well Deliah could understand it now. "Look at her, men. How did the Knight not rack that up by now? Only woman in this damn unit and we can't even touch her. We deserve a little extra with all the bullshit we dealt with around here. I'm beginning to have second thoughts about doing stuff for the guy, I haven't seen a paycheck in a week yet. I bet he pays her extra if she does favors for him."

The men made quiet agreements with him. Deliah suddenly turned around to him. The man stopped and made a toothy grin to her. He spoke in Spanish, pretending she was stupid. "Mistress, is the road too long? Shall you lay in the truck unit for now?" Deliah continued to stare up at him. "...Mistress?" Suddenly Deliah struck him into the mud, making the man cry out from shock of the unexpected punch. Deliah moved on top of him and began cussing him out in English. "You do _not_ speak of the Commander in that tone, you disrespectful little shit! I am going to report you for your indecent rumors and traitorous actions against him!" Deliah continued to strike at him with her fists, which she wrapped up with sharp stones earlier in the day and covered them with fake bandages to hide them.

The man continued to shout out as his friends sat and watch in disbelief. A few other units stopped in their tracks to watch the outrage of cussing from their only female soldier. The male looked up at her with a broken nose and a pull out tooth. She moved from him. "Sit in the unit truck! Your actions are to be reported along with your peers!" She pulled out her walkie-talkie, walking forward in her fit of anger. She spoke in military commands on unfit soldiers in her unit before moving forward.

Her English teacher watched her move forward before his friend next to him gave him a look of question. He only gave a smile, "She learn fast, yes!"

* * *

Since the incident, soldiers began treating Deliah with better respect. They asked for her advice, even religious due to her upkeep of being a servant of 'God' as well according to traditions. But majority of the time, they would give her gifts. It could be little things like handmade dolls. But then there was soldiers giving her portions of their rations for the day. She would return them without question. But those weren't the worst gifts. The worst were marriage proposals. They would send her rings with money they were using to go to shops whenever they were able to visit them. Apparently they liked 'mean' women. Deliah didn't like them back, however.

And now, here she was, being promoted even further up the charts to even a radio commander. Her name 'Red Storm' really took the cake this time for her, being her codename for whenever she sent on military commands.

In no time, they finally found the king as he kept running around and escaping. But they caught him and they held him hostage. This was when Deliah saw the Knight again, taking good analytics measures to make sure it was truly the king and not a decoy. When it was confirmed, he went right to work. He cut his head off with a clear cut from an axe by himself. Deliah didn't see the execution herself, but judging by the men she would be around, they say he cut his head off so clean it was like watching a chainsaw through a tree log. The man must've been strong, Deliah assumed. 

When Deliah walked into her unit's tent set up for that night, she found the head of the king laying on a wooden set up table as she walked in. The men in the tent were whispering in awe and looked to her, "Looks like the Knight is now giving you gifts, Red Storm!" Deliah observed the head with her trademark blank stare. It sure was the king's head alright. She would know the ugly mug anytime of the day, especially of the man who put his filthy hands on her on a regular basis.

This is a gift that she will accept.

* * *

A week later, and the head was given to the Deliah's people. However, Deliah kept with the militia, as promised to reach the United States. This time, she was able to even be around the Knight, doing errands for him that not even the men were allowed to commence on their own. Sooner or later, it became clear that Deliah became a second-in-command for him. But even with this change, she wasn't allowed to even view his face. None of the men did. Deliah decided on take that he may have truly been a demon, hiding his face from humans to stop them from running in fear.

At least that is what she thought until she was roaming in the Knight's tent preparing documents for their invasion into the US to reach a specific city. She moved along, ready to preach to the Knight about the American documents and the ability to forge them until she looked to see the Knight's helmet leaning on a charging port in the corner of the Knight's tent. She stared at it for a while before peeking her eyes over to see the Knight's form, slouching over a computer screen that had nothing but gibberish possibly in English. Even with knowing almost a good majority of English by now, Deliah couldn't read it completely yet. As she was about to leave to give the assumed demon some privacy, she was stopped by a clear, masculine voice.

So he really was a man. A human man.

"What do you got there?" He questioned her. Deliah couldn't see his face. She twisted back around, holding the papers to her chest. "American documents for forging all the men's IDs, sir. They will be coming in through the system by separate means." Deliah was in charge of making sure the men got pass security without being detained and their assault documented. Deliah only had an idea on what the man planned they do. They were to kill another demon, 'The Batman' as he's called. Deliah knew nothing else to the plan besides that.

"Come here." The Knight spoke. Deliah moved to sit down at the opposite end of the table of the Knight, placing the papers down in front of before looking back up. "Can you write English now?" "Not enough that it's readable." Deliah almost felt embarrassed when she was given the task to write her name in English by her current English teacher in the militia. Her handwriting was...

that of the devil.

She doesn't write often. She was taught to write in the castle, but she wasn't taught often enough. The symbols were the same, but she was still slow at it. She needed more time. "Please find someone more suitable for the writing." "No." The Knight denied, closing the computer screen to reveal his face. It was of a human man. A _white_ human man, actually. Deliah stared at him for a moment. Well, it was a change in her beliefs about him. She suspected him as a man that raised among the poor citizens of Venezula. Someone dark skinned at least, but no poor citizen would be able to obtain an army, not even with other citizens. The gear was too expensive. There were _tanks_ among them. 

Deliah refused to speak for a long period until the unmasked Knight took to grabbing her papers. "You will learn to write English. You will have to if you wish to stay in America." "A single mistake will cause the militia to be unable to cross into the borders without suspicion." "I know that." The Knight snapped out. Deliah was used to be shouted at by men, including even those in the militia over the communications. The Knight rubbed his face. Was Deliah the only one to have seen his face this whole time? What would the men think of their leader being nothing more than a white man in armor? Deliah choose not to think further on it and looked back down to the papers. "I can not read the writing." "I know." "I also can not do this alone." "I know." "And I-" "Yes Red Storm, I know damn it." The Knight stood up from his table and moved to his helmet.

"I request to leave the militia."

It went silent in the tent as Deliah stared up to the fairly tall male. "My deal have been changed on your end. I was not obliged with learning multiple skills for the American coin I am paid." "And where will you go?" "Back to the castle where I will continue to my work under the new queen." "She was killed." Deliah stopped herself, "Excuse me?" "They executed her last month. I have thought you'd learn from the men." Deliah stood up, suddenly grabbing papers from the table and flinging it towards the Knight. She began speaking in English and Spanish mixed together out of anger. "You delusional bastard! Rotten devil tomato! You planned on not telling me this whole time?! You are as evil as they said in that damn castle! I should have your head next, you filthy white man!" She screamed out. "You promised her safety, you evil monster! She is dead and had her body left to rot!"

Deliah continued to scream at him in the tent and thrown things around. Men outside the tent were almost ready to check inside on their sole woman in the militia until she bolted out of the tent. "Red Storm-" A man spoke out, only to have the Venezulan woman only scream out in angry Spanish as she left to go off somewhere. One of the men slowly peeked into the tent to see the Commander sitting down with his helmet on. The man slowly peeked back out. "Wait, the Commander is white?" Someone whispered.

* * *

Deliah was out, attempting to avoid the Knight as much as possible because she believes she really would assault him and most likely be killed by him while doing so. She purposely retained her English language and stick with her Spanish language, deciding that the English language was 'devil language'. She even went out of her way to demote herself from communications commander and switched down to being simply a soldier once more.

"Come on, mistress, you can't be angry forever now." Her English teacher spoke to her. "The man is evil and deserves to be treated as such." Deliah snapped in Spanish. "Aw chica, the Knight cares for you now, it's why he didn't say anything." "I would've preferred if he did now. Damn fool is all he is now to me!" The man stared at Deliah as she picked up boxes and threw them onto a truck. "You know, you accepting the king's head as a gift really gave off a specific expression now." "The hell you're talking about? We made a deal and that was to bring the head back to the people so they know they are no longer under rule of a madman." "Yes, but you also took the head as a gift while rejecting all these other gifts men in the militia been giving you." "I'm not interested in a relationship or marriage. I want to escape this horrid land." "Well, that isn't what the Knight seen it as." "Excuse me?" Deliah stopped her packing to twist her body to her teacher.

"You know, the traditions-" "I did no such thing! I am a woman of quality and taste! He would need to at least ask before hand!" "Are you gonna bring him back the head of the killed king then?" "I can not! And I refuse to!" "You know..." The male made it thinking, "If the Knight is American, that would make it easier for you now." "Why do you imply so?" "If he is, you can marry him and get a green card." "We're already doing something illegal via American law by forging papers. It would hold no point." "Okay okay, but ah, mistress. You should talk to him anyway. Poor man feels bad." "How do you know this now, hm?" "Well..."

_"She acts like a damn brat over nothing!" "Well, you didn't tell her that the princess she tended to all her life is dead and under." "That same princess been nothing but a hassle to her since the beginning." "She didn't think that now." The Knight sat in silence in his tent, moving to hold his helmet in his hand. So far, only Deliah saw his face, and he did so on purpose. He clenched his fists before releasing their tension in defeat. "She took his head as a gift, that's what the other men say. That was the only thing she accepted on our tour." "What are you inferring, sir?" "...Is she accepting it, as a marriage offer?" "I don't believe that to be the case now, but if you're so worried, you should ask before the rumors spread tent to tent." The Knight made a frustrated sigh. "Women are very difficult creatures." The man stared down at his commander before settling to sit down at his side of the table. The man thought, rather briskly, that the same could be said to his commander._

"So the man think I accepted his offer as a marriage gift? Blast this damn tradition." Deliah hissed out, picking up a heavy pipe before dragging it to where it was needed to be located at. "Why can't you men just accept that I DON'T WANT ANY OF YOU!" Deliah shouted out to the top of her lungs before getting into the back of a truck with her English teacher following her. "Well, there's your beauty." The man suggested. "And your harsh texture. Men seem to like a woman who is willing to stomp on them, if you catch my meaning." "You are all perverts with no morals." "Just go talk to him now, at least get this whole mess settled and we can all go back to normal." "What do you _mean_ back to normal?"

The man rubbed the back of his head as Deliah stared down at him, "What are you talking about, maestro?" The man sighed, drooping his arms to his side. "The morale of the militia went down since you bolted out of comms. The militia is possibly destined to fall apart, it is why he talked to me that day, mistress. He was hoping that I talk you to thinking about it. They like hearing a sweet woman's voice tell them what to do, not a dead-sounding man who didn't drink coffee yet." Deliah sat for a moment, pretending to pick something up and observe it. "Mistress-" "Alright alright, I'll go talk to the fool. But he's giving me a raise. I wanna afford an American home as soon as I arrive there." The man watched the woman go further into the truck to do actual work. He stared a moment longer, then left to his own devices.

* * *

"What is this about militia morale being down, huh? Should've thought about it before you decided to keep your mouth shut, you damn fool." Deliah held her arms to herself as she sat in the same tent that held the awful news of the lost princess. "Don't speak to your commander in that tone." The Knight spoke, filing through papers on his desk. "I don't speak nicely to those who do me wrong, even if he puts a damning crown on his head." The Knight made some sort of sound; possibly out of frustration with Deliah. "You act like a child among men who need instructions to ride a tricycle. You prefer to hide behind a mask instead of rising up to be something worthy to your men." Deliah stood up from her chair, "Instead, you got a palace servant to do that _for_ you. What'll happen if I somehow get killed, huh?" Deliah questioned. "They will all _leave_, and the reason they even got together in the first place is because you got them together. What the hell happened to that man?" Deliah cussed the Knight out in pure, clean English. It was like her own native language by now.

Deliah was ready to continue her mouth until the Knight removed his helmet and twisted his pissed off eyes to her. Unlike last time, Deliah noticed the embedded 'J' mark on his cheek. She stopped her argument, staring at the man before her back into his blue eyes with her own. "I survived without you for months, and I can do it again _and _keep these men together." "Then prove it." The tent had a dangerous silence to it. The man had a height in comparison to Deliah, towering over her, but she kept her ground. She knew spots to kick that will make him to her level. He could snap her neck if he wanted to. Even Deliah knew her limits, not pressing any further than she is now.

The man moved to sit back down, rubbing his black hair in defeat. Deliah started at his black hair until she noticed red seeping through the color; his hair was dyed. She moved to slope on the table. "Am I back on comms again?" The Knight didn't answer, making Deliah lean back up. "Come on, don't make me cuss you out again-" "You're on comms again." "Good-" "But don't you ever talk back to me again, or you'll be the lowest rank and on cleaning duty." "Yeah yeah, loud and clear." Deliah answered. "...Am I the only one to know your face now?" "Technically, yes." "I must be a lucky girl then. Now if you excuse me, I am in desperate need of alcohol and I need a sip from the illegal ship that is _totall__y_ a mystery to you, and I know you already know about it beforehand." Deliah moved to stand up, ready to grab herself a whole bottle to drown herself in during their tour break. "...Bring a bottle back to the tent, we got work to do."

Deliah sloped her back this time, "Make that two." The Knight spoke, making Deliah perk up and rush out of the tent. "Get the shipment open already!" "Shhh, you want him to know, mistress?!" "Oh please, he's too deaf to hear." The Knight stared at his tent's opening before making a smile to himself, glad that they gotten over that pesky mess. He went back to frowning, however.

They're going to have a long night of paper filing to do.


	4. File XX04

"I thought I told you fools to keep all food closed up and your tents zipped when you leave them!" Deliah was _pissed_, pulling at the ears of poor militia men as they quietly begged in Spanish for her forgiveness. There was a sole tent left up among the grassy forest of Brazil. Everything else was packed up for the end of the tour run before they rush off to the United States. Deliah stayed up all night to dawn with the Knight just to write the fake papers in English. Her writing had to be practiced as it was trash to read, according to the Knight's standards.

Now she was in a worst mood knowing that a few soldiers didn't follow safety protocols that _she_ had to implement due to earlier incidents of wild life messing with the milita.

Now there was a actual puma in the last tent, eating away opened food and refused to let anyone close. It already scratched at a man that tried to get it out of the tent. "You know how much time you got us wasting over this, huh?" Deliah let go of one of the milita men's ears before moving through a bag she requested earlier for supplies. A good amount of men were a couple yards away from the dangerously occupied tent. "Damn babies, its more scared of you than us." "Didn't show Jose the same attitude."

"Go let the Knight know we'll be travelling again once we get this mess cleaned up." Deliah hissed out, shooing the men responsible off before slowly moving up to the tent. "M-Mistress, what are you doing?!" Deliah ignored the panick of the men. "Why can't we just shoot it down?" "I'm not killing an animal that is just hungry, you fools!" Deliah called out before gently grabbing the tent and shaking it violently. The men went silent out of fear, "Damn it, we're going to lose our only woman today." Deliah rolled her eyes and moved back immediately when she heard the puma roar out and jumped out of the tent. She sat still as the puma stood in place, watching her from only a few feet. She kept a strong eye onto the dangerous creature as the men watched. "Mistress..."

Deliah stood still, glaring the creature down with a nearly oppressive force as it watched her back, then it looked around to see the men. The silence continue before it suddenly ran off into the neck of the forest away from humans. Deliah slowly moved into the tent and paused for a moment, gently pulling out a small kitten. "Aw, she just wanted to feed her baby." The kitten hissed and cried for its mother that ran away. She gently carried it out to where she saw the mother and moved back to put the tent down. "Come on idiots, put this tent down so we can head out." Deliah continued to watch the kitten and noticed the puma return to grab it by the neck and hurried back into the dense greenery with her baby.

"Mistress, the Knight requests you." "What for? We're heading out now." The man shrugged before helping the men put the tent down. Deliah sighed and moved to see to her commander.

* * *

"You're a damn idiot." The Knight snapped out. "Repeat that again, lover boy." Deliah was sassy with the Knight, even when he threatens to lower her rank all the time. He never does, and Deliah suspects he has an attachment to her because of it, not to mention the comms issue would surface again. "You messed with wild life instead of just leaving the tent behind." "So our tracks could be found?" Deliah snapped, "I don't know what you're planning on saying, Commander, but I can tell you right now I rather not risk our tracks being found."

"We're heading to the United States in a week." "Good then, we're on track, right? It was a silly encounter-" "What if you got hurt?!" The Knight snapped out, banging his hands against the milita jeep's headboard as they sat in it together. Deliah stared at the Knight, "We have medics on the team-" "I don't care, you put yourself in harm's way for a silly thing!" "We could've had men killed over a damn tent being left behind, especially supplies inside! I refuse to ever be a fault for that!" The Knight and Deliah were ready to get into a scuffle right in the jeep until there was a knock at the jeep's door. Deliah stopped and push the jeep window down. "What is it lieutenant, better be important." She grumbled; obviously put in a bad mood after talking to the Knight.

"Fortress been spotted at 12, ma'am." He answered, handing her a map and binoculars. Deliah snatched the items gently before looking out, "You got it; take a rest with your crew, lieutenant." The man nodded and Deliah put her new items down. It was silent as she pulled the window back up until she heard the Knight's mask speak to her, "You're a real challenge, Deliah." "And you're a hardass. Now I can say I have bigger balls than you; I went up against a puma." The Knight suddenly snorted before removing his mask, rubbing his face as he frowned. "I worry about you, Deliah." "For what? I don't even know your real name." "It would be best if you didn't. You'll be gone once our mission is completed." "Kill a man in a bat suit." "More than that; I want him to hurt." "What did this big, bad man even do to you? You're bringing a whole army for a man who forgot his pills one day and never took them again." Deliah waved her arm around.

"We're meeting up with someone tomorrow that I want you to be very stern with." "Who?" "A man in a mask." "Another one? You sure you weren't part of a circus or whatever?" The Knight turned to Deliah quickly. "No, but I did deal with a clown, and I had to pay for that." Deliah sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're something else, aren't you?"

"Jason Todd." Deliah stopped and looked to him in confusion, "My name is Jason Todd, Deliah." "Jason? Well, you do look like a Jason. Shame about the red hair though." Jason looked to Deliah in disbelief. "Dye your hair better, champ." She teased him. And just like that, they made up from their short fight over her safety. "Okay, maybe going up against a Puma bare-handed was stupid-" "Extremely." "But less men getting eaten alive by one now, right?" "And one woman nearly a fine cuisine for it too."

Deliah left the truck after that, going off to prepare food for the men with the cooks of the milita. She used to burn everything, but after practice, she was successful over the year of being with the milita.

She could only hope onr of Jason's masked friends aren't going to be a pain in her ass.

* * *

Onr of Jason's masked friends are a pain in Deliah's ass. The man's name was "Scarecrow", and he had a kink for fear. Deliah didn't want to know but she heard that a lot of American money was going into this mess. No wonder the milita had expensive weapons that rival the American military's.

Deliah had to sit with Jason on that Scarecrow guy. She had a feeling his face was fucked behind that mask, as he looked at her, one of his eyes were foggy, like he can barely see out of it. But instead of talking to Jason in his Knight mask, he wanted to talk to her oddly enough.

"What do you fear, my dear?" Deliah had to look at Jason's mask for any sign that she should stay quiet.

Nothing.

"Nothing that I can think of immediately." She simply answered, going back to writing on a clipboard. "Nothing, hm?" Scarecrow made a sinister smile at the woman. "Fear is what drive man now. The fear of death. The fear of losing. The fear of pain. It all drives man." "Good thing I am a woman then." Deliah made a sassy remark as she continued to write. "As a woman, I'm just 'property' to play with. What does my opinion matter?"

Deliah looked up for a moment and realized that Scarecrow was in her face by now. She kept a blank expression that was slowly beginning to express clear annoyance. She cut off the heads of many smartass bastards before.

This would be nothing new.

"So you fear freedom?" He made a short chuckle before slowly stretching a hand out with strange needles across them, slowly moved to her skin, ready to pierce its harden form for his sick benefits. "I'll give you something to fear about me if you put your hands on me, Mr. Crane. Specifically my Commander here." Scarecrow stopped himself and moved down to his seat.

"Ah women, they're driven by fear as well. But you...you're driven by something else. A hatred and...darkness." Deliah refused to answer as she went back to work on her clipboard. "Now then, 'Arkham Knight', tell me what you wish to hatch under me?" "Your toxin." "For the Batman? What shall you do besides what everyone else does?" "I know his tactics, his fears." Scarecrown chuckled, "How interesting. Do go on."

As Scarecrow listened to the Arkham Knight, he kept his eyes on Deliah. When she stared up at him, it reminded him of the Batman. But unlike the Batman, this little minx came from something dark and scary already.

Hell, maybe she was Fear itself.

* * *

Jason sat in frustration in his tent with Deliah after she wrote all the information needed into a file for him. "So...he's gonna use you as a snare for me if I fuck up, huh?" "I say its a strong bargain when you're making him deal with a man in a batsuit that been breaking bones and striking nightmares into people for years on end now."

Jason rubbed his jaw, "You and my other vice commanders are to die if I fail." "Gives you more motivation, doesn't it?" Deliah suggested. "You could at least show nervousness over this." "Why so? I am confident in you." Jason stared at Deliah, who looked back up to him for a period of time until he immediately grabbed her in the closed tent of his and threw her onto his makeshift bed. She was not able to react in time to his sudden reflexes. "So you're not afraid of me failing? Using you like a toy before removing you after I get bored?" He grabbed her by the throat and pulled out one of his trademark guns onto her head.

Deliah kept a bored expression despite the surprise disadvantage the Knight put her through. "I could use you like a ragdoll right now for my own care, and I can get away with it." Deliah stared up at the gun's barrel. "You wouldn't. The men's morale will go down and they will not follow a woman killer." Jason sat in position for a while before dropping his gun to his side.

"How are you so cold? Like me?" Deliah watched the gun before looking back up to Jason as he removed his mask. "You wish to be bored by my story? Am I not normal?" "Far from normal." Deliah kept quiet for a while before she spoke, "Only if you do the same." Jason took a deep breath before nodding, "Fine, sure." He moved off of her from the bed and sat normally on his bed with her.

And so, Deliah told her story, and Jason did the same to her.

"We are broken people?" Deliah questioned. "Too broken to even function right." "And killing a man in a batsuit will make you feel better?" "Better than ever; a cure to my black heart." "Am I forever broken then? Because I have no known cure?" Jason turned to Deliah, and he answered.

"You already found a cure for yourself; you serve under me now."


	5. File XX05

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have decided to revise Deliah's character and origin. This is an alternative now. I don't know what I will do with her, but I can use this story as an excuse to her being undercover to hide her real identity.
> 
> Idk tho.  
But thanks to reading up to this point on her.

They finally made it into America without a single man having to turn back.

All that nightwork with Jason really did pay off even if Deliah did cuss him out back and forth about her handwriting skills. Now since then, she had an actual English native woman's writing with a bubbly like fashion to it too. She still bitched when he did make her write so more for 'mission' reasons however. Oddly enough, he's fine with her cussing him out almost every other day, usually ignoring her words when she speaks in Spanish.

_Now_ he's making her write a computer program as soon as they make it all to the location needed with their army technology to be re-built undercover without hopefully ticking off any suspicious activity with the purchase of warehouses too far spread out to have a correlation matter to be questioned.

Did Deliah bitch? Of course she did, especially when said computer program is implied to be her first re-build piece of the Arkham Milita. Billions of dollars for Deliah to hopefully not screw up on.

It also came apparent that anywhere the Commander goes, Deliah is there with him with a clipboard on hand, writing down what he wanted for her programming. Eventually, Deliah stopped bitching and just did what the man told her to. And in like a same manner, the men began to ignore Deliah's gender and using that as their morale. Now they were actually having a good ear to a majority of the Commander instead. They even stopped the love letters and the little offerings to gain her attention.

Deliah had a feeling since at an earlier time that the men may have gotten the idea that she already accepted a gift from a man, and it was their Commander, before deciding to back off. How interesting men function to appeal a woman they barely knew much of besides her being a child soldier once.

It all set up, even when Scarecrow was beginning to annoy Deliah in commanding her around when he came back into the picture. She was even thinking of ignoring the man only to be told to listen to him by Jason. What a heaping pile of shit, now she has to hear a scrawny, face-mutilated man talk about phobias and how he was going to destroy a city of American people once and for all; Gotham. Eventually, Deliah learned how to selectively hear his words and actually paid attention to his medical research on fear itself. They even had (low-leveled) talks about psychology and the functions of the mind. Eventually, with the fake information of herself, Deliah began looking into medicine and other higher-leveled learning besides her computer programming that Jason would make her do so he had someone to file his blueprints and spawn out what he wanted.

The man wasn't stupid after all, in fact, he was a scholar of learning. Deliah wouldn't admit it, but intelligent men were something to confide an interest in as a woman, especially when Deliah was becoming more and more quick to learn new information and keep it in mind. Hell, she already learned on her own of the human anatomy and the functions of every part. Jason must've knew somehow that she was quick to learn and keep it way before even she did. She never had an education growing up after all.

Now she was important to at least someone besides the ability to cut a head off for them if they told her to. 

* * *

It was all going so well. The plans Jason made her complete, the exact steps were taken, but yet...the Batman won. The Batman won and the milita lost, with the men escaping back to their home country. Jason was nowhere to even be seen and he left her alone with a small group of what was left of the militia.

Deliah planned on never using the operation if everything turned to shit; Operation Failsafe. She will have to throw herself off a roof with her own vice commanders to stop interrogations of herself and on the information about the Arkham Knight and his operatives. What a damn ending to Deliah's life, a scam is what it is.

Now she was standing up on a building with a wet face from crying and rain falling on her body. Her vice commanders already jumped to their own deaths, their bodies bleeding out and mixing in with the rain that swept the red color away into the sewer drains. Deliah was next.

She took a deep breath and began thinking about the happiness she actually went through being in the militia, finding an actual purpose for her. It was exciting, but now it was over. As she moved to thinking about her final, happy moments, she took advantage of diving off the building to ignore the fear swallowing her in; looks like she did have a fear, Scarecrow.

A fear of losing her purpose.

As Deliah was ready to feel a pang of pain to her body before darkness, she felt a change in her angle to the ground, then she was...flying? Deliah opened her eyes in confusion and looked around, wondering if she was dreaming for a moment until she looked up to see a red helmet on a tall man's body, swinging them far from Deliah's destined fall. When they swooped onto a building's top, she looked around in confusion before looking up at the man. She had to register for a moment in guessing the man's identity until she heard his voice. "I don't want you dead just yet, big brain. Damn I couldn't get to them in time." He spoke. Deliah tilted her head when it finally came to her; Jason.

"Operation Failsafe-"

"Doesn't matter now. We need to go onto further planning. I'm not done yet, not here..." Deliah was ready to speak until she heard an explosion in the background and turned to see a mansion that was blown to dust in front of her very eyes. She stared in confusion until she heard Jason's voice once more. "...Should've known that old man would do that... Now its just us." He spoke to himself. "Batman is still active. Are we devising plans towards his capture?" "No...not anymore." Deliah turned around to Jason, who grabbed her waist and immediately they were off again to somewhere even Deliah had no idea to register.

"I have proven myself correct to Scarecrow." "What is that now?" "I will outlast him longer in this mission." Jason had to hold his snort of Deliah's self-superiority complex as he took them off to their new headquarters that Deliah will have to work on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah I ended this on a shitty note, but hey, at least it's not the origin I want for her now. Mega oof, but thanks to everyone who read this story up to this point.


End file.
